# 3 rd 

# Water Management for Shale Plays Assessing Specific Shale Plays

- Niobrara

Ashwin Dhanasekar Graduate Research Assistant Civil and Environmental Engineering

Ken Carlson Associate Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering

# Water Sources and Demand for the Hydraulic Fracturing of Oil and Gas Wells in Colorado from 2010 through 2015
Colorado Division of Water Resources Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Colorado Water Conservation Board

http ://cogcc.state.co.us/Library/Oil_and_Gas_Water_Sources_Fact_Sheet.pdf

# Cities Leasing Water for O&G Development

o Greeley 1150 acre

- ft (2011)

o Longmont 540 acre

- ft (2012)

o Aurora

o Loveland not disclosed

o Fort Lupton, Frederick, Firestone

Source: Denver Post

# Noble Energy EcoNode

# Recommendation 9.3.1. The review team recommends that the COGCC and DWR jointly evaluate available sources of water for use in hydraulic fracturing..............how best to maximize water reuse and recycling for oil and gas hydraulic fracturing.

# Colorado Energy Water Consortium

o I ndustry /university research center focused on natural gas/oil water issues.

o C ollaborative industry/CSU research.

o C ommunicate natural gas related water issues
and solutions to public , industry and others.

o Enhance curricula and programs within CSU to
respond to an evolving job market in the energy

water resources field.
http:// cewc.colostate.edu

# Colorado Energy Water Consortium

INDUSTRY Noble Energy ENVIRONMENTAL The Nature Conservancy LOCAL GOV’T Weld County Commissioner

REGIONAL GOV’T Western Governor’s Assoc.

AGRICULTURE Former Ag Commissioner CONSULTING ENGINEERING CH2M Hill

ACADEMIC Colorado State University COLORADO WATER INSTITUTE Director

# Materials and Energy Balance for Oil and Gas Well

C flowback



## Well E drilling E frac

E in

E oil E gas Q drill

Q frac Q flowback

Q produced C produced Water Treatment and Disposal 

### Q recycle



### C recycle E treat

Q evap Q inject 

## ENERGY IN

ENERGY OUT WATER IN WATER OUT

# Wattenberg Field

# Water Intensity

C flowback



## Well E drilling E frac

E in

E oil E gas Q drill

Q frac Q flowback

Q produced C produced Water Treatment and Disposal 

### Q recycle



### C recycle E treat

Q evap Q inject 

## ENERGY IN

ENERGY OUT WATER IN WATER OUT

# Water Consumption Per Well

# Water Consumption Per Well

# Consumptive Water Intensity

– Electricity Generation

370 gal/ MWh



## 175 gal/ MWh



## < 20 gal/ MWh 

## 480 gal/ MWh

# Water Production

C flowback



## Well E drilling E frac

E in

E oil E gas Q drill

Q frac Q flowback

Q produced C produced Water Treatment and Disposal 

### Q recycle



### C recycle E treat

Q evap Q inject 

## ENERGY IN

ENERGY OUT WATER IN WATER OUT

# Frac Flowback and Produced Water

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

1 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 101 111 121 131Water production, bbl

Day FB

PW

Separation of FF and PW



### Example well: Well 70 Ranch BB21

- 65 HN

# Water Production Prediction

# Water Quality

C flowback ????



## Well E drilling
1430

- 6840 MMBtu E frac
26

- 128 MMBtu

E in
1456

- 6968 MMBtu

E oil 303,000

- 1,700,000 MMBtu E gas 285,000

- 1,590,000 MMBtu Q drill (87,500

- 206,000 gal)

Q frac (1,900,000

- 3,350,000 gal) Q flowback (83,300

- 165,000 gal)

Q produced (198,000

- 4,680,000 gal) C produced ???? Water Treatment and Disposal 

### Q recycle ????



### C recycle

???? E treat ????

Q evap ???? Q inject

???? 

## ENERGY IN

ENERGY OUT WATER IN WATER OUT

# • Validate the Water Analysis

• Critically evaluate and recommend improvements in the Water Analysis

• Predict the properties of the produced water from the analysis

• Develop link to GIS Map to Analyze spatially CSU’s GIS based Chemistry Tool Project

# • Data Collection from Producers

• Analysis

• GIS Implementation

• Water Quality Analysis

• Chemical Calculator Development

• Integration of GIS & Chemistry Tool

• Development of Application Field Management ToolWater Quality Data

Water Quantity

Data Processing into Chemistry Calculator

Charge Balance & Equilibrium Calculations Development of Link

– Chemistry Calculator &

GIS Map Final GIS Based Application with Custom Tools for Water Quality Analysis

Output Excel File Co

- ordinates

Database File Water Data Production

Data

ArcGIS Geodatabase Map Service Development Publish Service Development of Web Application Using Services as

Layers Developing Web Map

Reconcile

pH Reconcile Alkalinity Model Composition Softening to a Set pH Measured pH Measured Alkalinity

Predicted Solids, TDS, pH, Alkalinity, Conductivity, Density

Compare to Measured Solids Removed Recover Water

- RO Neutralize to

a Set pH

Osmotic Pressure Reagents Required Reagents Required



## Chemistry Output Water Recovery & Residue 

## Chemistry Tool

- CalcAq

GIS Tool

- ArcGIS 

# Schematic of Project

# • Optimized routing for truck traffic & pipelines

• Group wells for centralized treatment

• Improve models for the treatment processes

• Improve Error Handling

• Wizards to solve chemistry problems

• Improve water analysis, including oil carryover Future Work

# THANK YOU!

• kcarlson@engr.colostate.edu

• ashwin.dhanasekar@colostate.edu